Will He be on this earth during the 1000 years. Will the church be with Him on earth? We have already seen there is no evidence in the Old Testament that the church will be on this earth during the millennium. And further, that though Christ will come to this earth in person, and be King over the earth, yet we need further light before we can fully answer the question, “Will He be on this earth during the 1000 years?” We will now turn to the New Testament.
We find that though there may be fuller revelations of the glory of Christ, yet all is in perfect harmony from Genesis to Revelation, quite as much so, though written during so many centuries, and by so many men, as if God had spoken by one writer only. The angel said to Mary, “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:31-3331And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. (Luke 1:31‑33)). Thus to simple faith His future reign over Jacob is as certain as His past incarnation. Exactly as foretold by Isaiah, the very JESUS, who was born of the Virgin Mary, shall sit on the throne of David, and every promise in the Old Testament shall be fulfilled. “And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.” (See Matthew 24:3030And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30); Luke 21:2727And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. (Luke 21:27)). They shall not see a spirit, nor will it be a spiritual coming; but the very same Jesus will come who died on the cross, and rose again. “And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? THIS SAME JESUS, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:9-119And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:9‑11)). He will then surely come to this earth in person — that same Jesus. This is clear and certain. It is also as clear that He will come at the commencement of the millennium. Christ having suffered all things foretold by the prophets, Peter calls on Israel to repent. He says, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when [or and] the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-2119Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 20And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19‑21)). Yes, God hath spoken, it must come to pass. Do we read the prophets as God speaking to us? Yes, Jesus is received up to heaven, and He will remain there until the millennium, or times of refreshing, as here described.
But nowhere have we yet found such a thought as that He will be merely an earthly potentate, dwelling on this earth. His glorious reign on earth is only a part of His dominion and glory. Now, as Paul found it impossible to utter the things that he heard, “When he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful [or possible] for a man to utter” (2 Cor. 12:44How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. (2 Corinthians 12:4)), so we believe there are future glories of Christ, which do not yet appear to us, and therefore of which we cannot write or speak — even glories of Jesus, as Man, which He will share with the church. As we further read, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us... Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as he is” (1 John 3:22Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)). While this is so, yet we may enter a little into the distinct heavenly blessing and glory of the church, very peculiar and quite distinct from, or even in contrast with, the earthly glory of Israel on earth. Let us now turn to further unfoldings of the purposes of God, “The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”
In the first eight verses of Ephesians 1, we have the complete salvation of each saint predestined for the heavenly glory. If you are a believer, beloved reader, here is your complete salvation. But what a contrast to every blessing promised to Israel. God our Father takes the place of their Jehovah. They will indeed be blest in earthly places. We now worship the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. All is of God, He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. What a salvation! And more than this, having predestined us unto the adoption of CHILDREN by Jesus Christ to Himself. To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, or brought us into the same favor in the Beloved. And Christ has accomplished this eternal purpose of our God and Father, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” What a salvation of God our Father, by and in Jesus Christ our Lord. It would be very sweet to our souls to go over each part of this salvation, and thus give “thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col. 1:1212Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: (Colossians 1:12)). You will notice in Ephesians 1:99Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: (Ephesians 1:9) to the end, the heavenly inheritance is opened up to us, so far as we can bear it now. Our Father makes known to us the mystery of His will what He hath purposed in Himself. “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in Him.”
Mark, we are not here spoken of as His inheritance, but “in whom also we have obtained an inheritance” (Eph. 1:1111In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: (Ephesians 1:11)). And further, the purpose of God is to gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him. At present believers are sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory. The purchase is paid, but the redemption of the inheritance has not yet taken place. Now what is that inheritance but all things in heaven and earth? Alas, not those in hell or in the lake of fire. They have rejected the riches of His grace until it is forever too late. The apostle says, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him; the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints (Eph. 1:17-1817That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:17‑18)). And what is that revelation? God has raised Jesus far above all the heavens, “and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:22-2322And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:22‑23)). We see not yet all things put under Him (Heb. 2:8-98Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. 9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. (Hebrews 2:8‑9)); but we see Him crowned with glory, having tasted death for all things. We further see when all things shall be put under Him (1 Cor. 15:24-2824Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:24‑28)).
Oh how vast the inheritance. He who created all things in the heavens and the earth shall reign over all (Col. 1:16,1816For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (Colossians 1:16)
18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18)). View those vast heavens, all the works of His hands. Is it not impossible to describe that which is infinite? Oh the glory of that grace that has made us co-heirs with the Son. Faith knows no difficulties, with God all things are possible: distance inconceivable disappears. Jacob at the foot of the ladder can see Jehovah at the top. Jesus above all heavens is seen by the dying martyr Stephen. In a moment He appears in glory to the persecutor, Saul. Absent from the body, the spirit of every believer who departs is present with the Lord. This is all beyond a mortal’s ken, but clearly revealed in the wondrous Word of God.
Soon that morn will break, far too bright for mortal eyes. This earth is indeed a part, a wondrous part, of His inheritance. Here sin has run its course. Here the greatest event, the very central act of eternity, has been accomplished, the atoning death of the cross for my sins; and here shall the Saviour shine in His glory. But you will see this earth will be far short of being the center and the circumference of His glorious inheritance, and the glory given to Him as man, is given to us. Oh, the riches of His glory.
If we look at the heavenly millennial glory of the church, the bride, we see the same wondrous connection between the heavenly and the earthly during the millennium (Rev. 21). But the church is heavenly, “Descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light [or shining] like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” And yet the administration is evidently connected with Israel and the earth (Rev 21:10-1210And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: (Revelation 21:10‑12)).
From all these scriptures we may learn that the reign of Christ and His bride will be over the heavens and the earth; so that the parable of ruling over ten cities, or five, is just to show this, that the reward will be in proportion to the diligence in serving Him. This must not be confounded with our salvation, perfect and eternal, of God, in Christ Jesus.
Oh the riches of the glory of God!